Tear Stained
by TheWeatherOutside
Summary: Finding yourself trapped under debris is not the best thing to wake up to. (Day 14 of Whumptober 2019 - Tear Stained)


Gordon woke to yelling, or what he thought was yelling. Maybe they were talking at a normal volume, but every noise right now sent ringing through his ears and he just wanted to tell whoever it was to be quiet. Just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep for a little longer.

But he couldn't roll over, couldn't move because there was a heavy weight preventing him from doing so. Realising that he wasn't going to go back to sleep anytime soon, he slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was not what he had expected, because what he saw was almost complete darkness. There were only a few small beads of light shining through the cracks of whatever it was that was covering him.

Gordon's arms felt heavy as he lifted them and pushed against the debris on top of him, coughing as the movement sent dust over his face. He had to squint against the sudden brightness that hit him as the debris fell to the side, and his eyes stung and watered as some of the dust flittered into them.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. It was easier to move around now that he was free from the waist up, but there was still a heavy weight on top of his legs.

Now that he was in a better position to do so, Gordon looked around to find out where exactly he was. He was in some room, or at least the remains of one. The ceiling had caved in and now the room was wrecked, covered in debris and smashed furniture.

Gordon heard the sound of debris shifting and the voices that he heard before raised up again. He turned to the source of the noise, and found Scott standing over by a door. He was talking to someone that Gordon couldn't see whilst he moved debris out of the way of the door.

However, it seemed that he knew someone was watching him, and swiftly spun around to face Gordon.

"Gordon?" Scott somehow managed to sound both relieved and concerned as he noticed Gordon sitting there. "Are you alright?"

Gordon's eyes and throat still hurt from all the dust in the air, and he did ache a bit, but other than that he felt fine, so he nodded. Scott visibly relaxed at that.

"Virgil and Alan got stuck in the other room before the building collapsed. The door won't open with all this debris in the way. They're clearing their side; do you think you're able to come help me with ours?"

"Yeah, sure." Although Gordon would have much rather preferred to have just sat there for a few more moments, his brothers needed him.

Scott turned back to the door, and Gordon could hear him tell Virgil and Alan on the other side that he was okay. Gordon couldn't hear their reply from where was, but Scott seemed to as he turned back to moving the debris.

He began to lift the debris that still covered his legs. They were mostly small pieces that were easy to lift, but once they were off of him, they revealed a long, thick beam across his legs. He went to push it off, but once he jostled it just slightly pain shot through his leg. He had to fight to not yell out in agony as he didn't want to alarm Scott.

He grit his teeth and tried to lift the beam again. Maybe if it was off of him then the pain would recede a bit. However, when he pushed against the beam, it didn't shift in the slightest. It was too heavy, and any attempt to move it just hurt his leg more. He sat back and let out a long, shaky breath.

"I don't think I can help you, Scotty. I'm stuck."

Scott turned to him in alarm and dropped the piece of debris he was holding as he hurried over to him. He had to climb over some wrecked pieces of furniture before he got to him.

"I thought you said you were alright?" Scott was looking down at him in concern, but Gordon didn't want him to worry.

"I am. It's just this beam, it's too heavy to move."

Scott looked at the beam, his brow furrowed. His eyes ran across the length of the beam, like he was looking to see how big it was.

"Maybe I can try." Scott bent down lift the end of the beam, but Gordon quickly stopped him.

"No!"

Scott looked at him in confusion, a hint of worry creeping onto his face. Gordon scrambled to find a way to lessen his concern.

"Uh, no," Gordon said a bit more calmly. "It's probably too heavy for you, and I don't want you to hurt yourself trying to lift it. I can wait until you get Virgil and Alan out, they need your help right now."

Scott still didn't appear entirely convinced, but at the reminder of Virgil and Alan he seemed to want to head back to helping them as well. He watched Gordon for a moment, and Gordon stared back. When Gordon didn't waver under Scott's concerned gaze, Scott seemed convinced enough that it was safe to leave Gordon for a moment.

He gave Gordon a curt nod and hurried back to clearing the door. His movements seemed to pick up in pace a bit, trying to help one set of brothers whilst his concern for another sat in the back of his mind.

Gordon let out the breath he had been holding once Scott left him on his own again. In truth, he didn't want Scott to move the beam because he knew how much it would hurt him, whether he managed to actually lift it or not. If Scott knew that Gordon was hurt, he would be too worried about him but would also want to help Virgil and Alan.

This way, Scott could concentrate on the others and wouldn't need to worry about Gordon. They could deal with his problem once the other one had been solved.

Whilst Scott was busy over by the door, Gordon looked down to where the beam was lying across his leg. The slight angle that the beam was lying at meant that it was only resting on the one leg, which at least meant that his other leg was free to wiggle about. Although, Gordon didn't want to move much as any movement just tugged on his trapped leg.

Gordon's eyes widened as he then noticed the dark patch that was steadily growing over his leg. The beam had been digging into his skin, but it seemed that the weight of it had prevented any blood from getting out. But once the beam had been shifted just a little, the seal had been broken.

He swallowed and looked up at Scott. He was still busy with the other two, but the door this side seemed to be clear and Scott was busy pulling on the handle whilst talking to his brothers on the other side. He didn't appear to have noticed Gordon's panic, which was good. He didn't need to worry.

Gordon turned his attention back to his leg, and lightly touched his fingers against where it met the beam. Maybe if he pressed a bit firmer there would be enough pressure to stop the bleeding. However, even just the slightest touch sent a burning pain over his leg.

He was sure that that time he couldn't hold in his whimper and panicked that Scott had heard him. But it was that moment that there was a loud crash as the door was sent off of its hinges and smashed onto the floor.

Gordon couldn't help but flinch at the loud noise and turned to find Virgil standing in his exo-suit right where the door once was. He stepped through into Scott and Gordon's room, Alan following not too closely behind.

"Everything alright in here?" Virgil asked as he cast his gaze around the room. When his eyes settled on Gordon and found him sitting on the floor, his brow creased in concern and he started to make his way over to him. "Gordon? What's up?"

"Stuck," was all Gordon said. He leant back on his hands, trying to look more casual about the situation than he felt.

"A beam fell on him, do you think you could lift it, Virgil?" Scott ask the man in the suit that was designed to lift things just like that, but it was a case of whether Gordon wanted him to lift it.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Virgil replied as he reached the beam, but he didn't bend down to pick it up like Gordon had expected and was mentally preparing himself for. Ever the medic, instead he stepped out of the suit and kneeled down next to Gordon.

He inspected where the beam reached Gordon's leg and frowned as he noticed how bad it was.

"You're bleeding," he said, voice tight as he reached to grab something from his sash.

In his peripheral vision, Gordon could see Scott step closer.

"You said you were fine." Scott sounded mad, but Gordon knew that at times like these that emotion was directed at the situation, not at him.

"I thought I was!" Gordon threw his hands in the air in mock exasperation, before they fell back down to his side. "Well, sorta."

"Gordon." Scott said sternly, but Virgil stopped him before he could berate Gordon any further.

"Enough, it's not like you could have done much before we got here anyways. Alan, come here."

Alan hurried over from where he had been standing quietly in the door frame. He knelt down on Gordon's other side and Virgil handed him an elastic tourniquet.

"Tie this around his leg, a bit above where the beam is."

Alan nodded at his command and got to tying the tourniquet. Gordon tried not to wince as Alan jostled his leg as he didn't want his little brother to feel bad about hurting him further. Alan still looked nervous as he watched Gordon, so Gordon tried to give him a reassuring smile.

Once Alan was finished with that, Virgil then handed him a thick piece of gauze and went to stand up.

"As soon as I pull this beam off of him, immediately apply pressure to his leg and hold it there."

Alan still seemed a little anxious, but Virgil wouldn't have given him the task if he didn't know he could pull it off. Alan looked from the gauze, then to Gordon, before he gave Virgil a confident nod. Virgil smiled at him proudly before he got back into his exo-suit.

As Virgil made his way over to the end of the beam, Scott came over to kneel in Virgil's empty space and he put a comforting hand on Gordon's shoulder.

"Are you ready, Gordon?" Virgil asked.

"No, but I don't think I ever will be so let's just get it over with."

Virgil looked a little unsure, but he knew Gordon was right. It would probably hurt a lot worse the longer they waited, so they should just get on with it now.

Virgil bent down to pick up the beam, and Gordon squeezed his eyes shut.

The pain of the beam being lifted off of him was excruciating. It felt like his flesh was being pulled up with it and it took everything in him to keep his leg still and not lift it up along with the beam to lessen the pain. It was as if the beam had cut off the blood circulation in his lower leg, and as the feeling came back the pain that had been trapped with it was also finally released.

His hands were squeezed so fiercely his nails were almost cutting into his palms, but he barely even noticed. His leg felt wet, but he didn't want to look at it. He kept his eyes tightly shut and his teeth ground against each other as he prevented himself from screaming out.

After several seconds, the pain seemed to dull slightly now the beam was fully removed, and his senses became a bit clearer. Scott's comforting hand squeezed his shoulder and Gordon could feel the pressure as Alan held the gauze to his leg, although that hurt significantly less than the pressure of the beam.

"The worst bit is over now," Virgil said soothingly as he came back over to them, and Gordon finally peeled his eyes open.

Gordon could see that Virgil had tossed the beam to the side of the room and out of the way. Gordon couldn't see how bad his leg looked with how Alan held the gauze on it, but he didn't know if he wanted to. Virgil was already leaning over him to get to work on a temporary measure to stop the bleeding before they could leave and he could be stitched up properly.

Gordon just sat back and tried to concentrate on his breathing. At some point Scott moved forward to help the others, and Gordon was somewhat pleased that he could have a moment where he didn't need to talk to anyone or have to look at their worried faces.

He shifted back on his hands slightly and was startled as one of them knocked against something sharp. He turned to find broken glass across the floor from a shattered window and couldn't help but pick up a piece as he caught his reflection in it.

His reflection wasn't all that clear, but from what he could see he looked a mess. Dirt and dust that covered his face with tear stained streaks down his cheeks. He hadn't even realised he had been crying, whether the tears were the result of the pain or the dust that scratched his eyes.

He threw the glass back to the floor and rubbed his hands across his face. Not that it mattered; if he had been crying then everyone there knew it from how it had tainted his cheeks.

Gordon sat back and closed his eyes again, although this time it was for a different reason than to before. It wasn't fuelled by fear of pain, but rather by exhaustion. He suddenly felt very tired and couldn't wait until they were able to leave this wrecked place, to be able to head home where he could wash the dirt from his face.

"I'm gonna go get a stretcher," he heard Alan say as he sped past him and out the building.

Gordon was proud of him today. He worked well under pressure, and Gordon knew first-hand that it was always the worst when one of your older brothers was the one that needed your help. He was shaping up to be a proficient and talented member of International Rescue.

Gordon was proud of all of his brothers, and he always would be. There wasn't anyone else he would have preferred to help him in situations like this, and he would happily sit in their company whilst he was in pain and wait until they would take him safely home.


End file.
